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Chinese Fighter Jet Twice Within Feet
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii, April 14 (News Agencies) - The impact as a Chinese fighter jet struck the U.S. spy plane on April 1st caused U.S. pilot Lieutenant Shane Osborn to think the other pilot "just killed us," he told reporters Saturday.
On the tarmac of Hickam Air Force Base prior to the 24-member crew's departure to their home base on Whidbey Island in Washington, Osborn said the Chinese F-8 fighter jet twice closed "within three to five feet" on the U.S. Navy EP-3 plane before a mid-air collision forced an emergency landing in southern China.
Osborn said his "plane snapped to the left and fell into an inverted dive and plunged almost 15,000 feet" after the collision.
The F-8 was "smoking towards the earth" after its vertical tail fin struck the U.S. plane's spinning, left outermost propeller.
The impact tore apart the fighter jet, Osborn said, as his own plane lost crucial airspeed and altitude instruments, as well as much of the plane's flaps and other controls.
Debris from the accident punched holes in the plane's fuselage and the aircraft lost cabin pressure during its struggle to return to land.
It was not the first time Chinese fighters had harassed the lumbering, four-engine propeller plane.
"They would get pretty close, but not that close," Osborn said.
The U.S. pilot said his plane was flying "straight and steady," on autopilot, moving away from Hainan Island when the collision happened and said there were "no apologies necessary on our part."
"We did it right," he said emphatically, noting the plane made some 15 mayday calls as it made its emergency descent. Those calls, Osborn said, went unanswered.
Osborn would not say how much of the plane's classified gear and data was destroyed before China seized the surveillance craft.
"I want to thank America" Osborn said during the press conference. "We're all glad to be back ... American's should be very proud of this crew."
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